May, Bernhard (Hrsg.): The Uncertain Superpower

the republican party, especially within those groups that supported President Bush. There was a strong backlash in Europe against this more unilateralist and more isolationist foreign policy of the Bush administration. Transatlantic re lations went through a difficult phase in the Spring of 2001, each side criti cizing the other for doing the wrong thing and for damaging transatlantic re lations. In Europe, President Bush was not seen as a world leader, but rather as the governor from Texas. Europeans criticized the Bush administration for not accepting the role as the only remaining superpower and for not accepting the global responsibility linked to being a global power. Transatlantic rela tions were at a low point in June of 2001 when President Bush came to Europe the first time. All of that changed overnight with the terror attacks of September 11, 200 I. Millions of Europeans demonstrated their solidarity with the American people. In Berlin, for example, approximately 200,000 people took part in a demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate on September 14 to show their solidarity with the American people. International terrorism was the new common challenge. For several months it seemed like the old trans atlantic quarrels would be forgotten. There was a new spirit in transatlantic relations, a new commitment to fight common enemies and protect common values. The question was, how long would it last.